The Australian Bureau of Statistics has embarked on an ambitious program of work to establish a new approach to statistical geography which will put geographically referenced statistics on a whole new footing in Australia.

The Mesh Block, a new geographical unit developed by the ABS, is planned to become the basic building block for all statistical, political and administrative regions in Australia. The 2006 Census data will be the first data released (in 2007) on Mesh Blocks.

The draft version of the Mesh Blocks will be launched by the Australian Statistician Dennis Trewin at the Spatial Sciences Institute Biennial Conference (SSC2005) in Melbourne on Tuesday the 13th of September, 2005.

Mr Trewin will be joined on the podium by Warwick Watkins, Chairman of ANZLIC and Ole Hedberg, Chairman of PSMA Australia.

The theme of the SSC2005 Conference is 'Spatial Intelligence, Innovation and Praxis' and aims to demonstrate initiatives in the spatial industry and to provide a forum for ongoing discussions relating to their application to the community.

The expected audience of 1000 conference delegates and invited guests include surveyors, cartographers, GIS specialists and natural resource managers who work with GIS as well as academics and socio-economic analysts who specialise in GIS and small area analysis.

The ABS will be distributing free Mesh Block CD-ROMs, both at the launch and during the conference itself. These CD-ROMs will have draft Mesh Block boundaries for all of Australia and important reference material, including an Information Paper and feedback form.

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